American Basketball Association (2000 - present)
The American Basketball Association (ABA) is a professional men's basketball league that was founded in 1999. The current ABA has no affiliation with the original American Basketball Association that merged with the National Basketball Association (NBA) in 1976. History The current ABA was started up by Joe Newman and Dick Tinkham, who was an executive with the Indiana Pacers when they were in the original ABA. They licensed the ABA name from the NBA. 2000–2003 :See also: 2000-01 ABA season. :See also: 2001-02 ABA season. The league first began play in 2000 with eight teams. During this time, the league focused mainly on teams in larger cities. The league suspended operations during the 2002-2003 season for reorganization. After returning one season to help rebuild, league focus was changed, from a few teams in large cities to many teams in large and medium cities, set up in regional groups. This was due in part to lowering the franchise fees down to $10,000 from $50,000 and not requiring a bond to start a team. This allowed many cities to have teams that otherwise wouldn't and cut costs for operating a team. However, many unprepared and under-financed ownership groups would become owners. The result is that each season, many new teams would be created, but many of them would cease operations during the season. 2004–2006 :See also: 2004-05 ABA season. :See also: 2005-06 ABA season. The 2004-2005 season was the first under this new format, with 37 teams playing that season. Each season, the number of teams grew, with both successful teams and teams that didn't complete the season. The ABA had over 50 teams playing in a season. Some stories of successful expansion franchises were the Arkansas RimRockers in 2004 and the Rochester Razorsharks in 2005. Both won an ABA title in the team's inaugural season. 2006–2007 :See also: 2006-07 ABA season. The 2006-2007 season saw the cost for a new expansion franchise raised to $20,000, but many still sold for $5,000 - $10,000 and less, in some cases going as low as $1. One notable 2006-2007 expansion franchise was the Vermont Frost Heaves, owned by Sports Illustrated writer Alexander Wolff. Also in 2006-2007, former NBA player John Salley was named league commissioner, and Maryland Nighthawks owner Tom Doyle was named chief operating officer. Following the league's first public offering in 2006, it was reported that Joe Newman was voted out of his position as league CEO.http://www.oursportscentral.com/services/releases/?id=3423259 A form filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission in February 2007 claimed the ABA Board of Directors removed Newman as league CEO on January 31, 2007. It went on to state that Newman's actions as league CEO would be reviewed to ensure that they were performed with the Board's permission.http://biz.yahoo.com/e/070207/abkb.ob8-k.html The same filing also claimed that Newman and other shareholders plotted to remove Tom Doyle, John Salley, and David Howitt from the Board and elect Paul Riley as its director. Newman denied his removal ever occurred, and continued as acting CEO.ABAlive.com - Home of the American Basketball Association The lawsuits were settled in March 2007 with Doyle's and Salley's resignations from the league Board of Directors. The 2006-2007 season saw many franchises fail to travel to road games or play a full schedule. When a weather problem required a postponement of a playoff game between the defending champion Rochester Razorsharks and the Wilmington Sea Dawgs, instead of letting the two teams reschedule, the league wanted to force Rochester to forfeit. Rochester instead withdrew from the league. This incident, coupled with the CEO v. COO intrigue, caused to some league owners to become frustrated with the instability of the league and separate to form the Premier Basketball League (PBL). 2007–2009 :See also: 2007-08 ABA season. :See also: 2008-09 ABA season. The 2007-2008 season saw nearly twenty teams fold within its first five weeks, and several remaining teams left the ABA to join other existing leagues. According to Our Sports Central, only around 35% of the games were actually played in the 2007-08 season. The teams that played the highest percentage of games were Vermont, the Manchester (NH) Millrats, and the Quebec Kebs. Those three teams would leave to the PBL at the conclusion of the season. Another team that only played home games was Beijing Aoshen Olympic. This team was kicked out of the Chinese Basketball League and played home games in Singapore. Beijing would pay $3000 and fly teams to Singapore for a 2-game homestand. Early teams complained on Our Sports Central that they were forced to stay in a hotel that doubled as a brothel. Joe Newman CEO forced Beijing to find a new hotel on hearing this news. Later teams stayed in a Holiday Inn. The league's most successful franchise by attendance, the Halifax Rainmen, left the ABA, citing frustration with teams not showing up for games, as well as a biased ranking system. Numerous sportswriters essentially referred to the ABA as a joke, and not to be taken seriously. The 2008-2009 season saw the league conduct interleague play with the Continental Basketball Association. 2009–2010 :See also: 2009-10 ABA season. The 2009-2010 season was scheduled to have over 50 teams. The season ended with several teams folding, starting in early December, including the entire northwest division. The league playoffs also had several games cancelled due to teams unable to afford travel, including a semi-final playoff game. The playoffs ended with Southeast Texas Mustangs defeating Kentucky Bisons in a three game series. On April 25, 2010 as part of their ABA Global initiative, the ABA hosted the 2010 ABA Friendship Games, where the Philippine National Basketball Team competed against teams from the ABA. 2010–2011 :''See also: 2010-11 ABA season. The 2010-2011 season is expected to field over 60 teams. It was also announced that a new Canadian Division would be formed in 2010. A team based out of Toronto will join the ABA prior to a formation of the Canadian Division when more Canadian teams have been formed. In the summer the league announced the first Haitian pro-basketball team, the Haitian Relief, based in South Florida.ABA Announced Haitian expansion team If all goes smoothly, the league is planning to host over 800 games combined amongst the teams.ABA season schedule Current teams :For regular season standings of past ABA seasons, see American Basketball Association (2000–) standings. North Central Division South Central Division Northeast Division Mid-Atlantic Division Southeast Division Gulf Coast Division Southwest Division SoCal Division NoCal Division Pacific Northwest Division Other Teams Playing 2011 Announced Expansion Defunct teams Former teams that joined other leagues *Arkansas RimRockers - joined NBA Development League, folded *Bellingham Slam - now in International Basketball League *Charlotte Krunk - joined Continental Basketball Association as Atlanta Krunk, went to Premier Basketball League as Augusta Groove, folded *Chicago Throwbacks - joined Premier Basketball League, folded *Corning Bulldogs - now in Eastern Basketball Alliance as Elmira Bulldogs *Detroit Panthers - joined Premier Basketball League, currently inactive *Florida Pit Bulls - joined Continental Basketball Association as East Kentucky Miners, rejoined ABA *Halifax Rainmen - now in Premier Basketball League *Indiana Alley Cats - joined Continental Basketball Association, folded *Jacksonville JAM - joined Premier Basketball League, expelled from league midway through 2008 season *Long Beach Jam - now in NBA Development League as Bakersfield Jam *Manchester Millrats - now in Premier Basketball League as Saint John Mill Rats *Maryland Nighthawks - joined Premier Basketball League, now in Atlantic Coast Professional Basketball League as Washington GreenHawks *Northeast Pennsylvania Breakers - joined United States Basketball League, folded after one season there *Pittsburgh Xplosion - joined Continental Basketball Association, folded *Quad City Riverhawks - joined Premier Basketball League, folded *Quebec Kebs - now in Premier Basketball League *Reading Railers - joined Premier Basketball League, folded *Rio Grande Valley Silverados - joined Continental Basketball Association for one season, moved to Beaumont and rejoined the ABA as the Southeast Texas Mustangs New Pro-Basketball Team Named: "Southeast Texas Mustangs" *Rochester Razorsharks - now in Premier Basketball League *Rock River Fury - joined Premier Basketball League as Rockford Fury then folded. *San Jose SkyRockets - joined Continental Basketball Association as Minot SkyRockets, folded *Vancouver Dragons - joined Continental Basketball Association, folded *Vermont Frost Heaves - now in Premier Basketball League *Waco Wranglers - now in United Basketball League as Texas Wranglers *Wilmington Sea Dawgs - joined Premier Basketball League then moved to Continental Basketball League Championship Game results :For complete playoff results of past ABA seasons, see American Basketball Association (2000–) Playoff Results. :For standings of past ABA seasons, see American Basketball Association (2000–) standings. Championship Game Appearances by Team Championship Game Winning Percentage by Team All-Star Game results *2002 ABA All-Star Game - Kansas City Knights defeated ABA All-Stars, 161-138 (Kemper Arena) *2005 ABA All-Star Game - West defeated East, 163-149 (Las Vegas Sports Center) *2006 ABA All-Star Game - East defeated West, 129-127 (BankAtlantic Center) *2007 ABA All-Star Game - West defeated East, 138-123 (Halifax Metro Centre) *2008 ABA All-Star Game - East defeated West, 161-140 (Barre Auditorium) Awards Player of the Year *2000-2001 - None Announced *2001-2002 - Pete Mickeal, Kansas City Knights *2003-2004 - Joe Crispin, Kansas City Knights *2004-2005 - Kareem Reid, Arkansas RimRockers *2005-2006 - Chris Carrawell, Rochester Razorsharks *2006-2007 - James James Marrow *2007-2008 - *2008-2009 - DeRon Rutledge, Southeast Texas Mavericks Coach of the Year *2000-2001 - None Announced *2001-2002 - None Announced *2003-2004 - Earl Cureton, Long Beach Jam *2004-2005 - Rick Turner, Bellevue Blackhawks *2005-2006 - Rod Baker, Rochester Razorsharks *2006-2007 - Will Voigt, Vermont Frost Heaves *2007-2008 - Will Voigt, Vermont Frost Heaves *2008-2009 - Otis Key, Kentucky Bisons Executive of the Year *2000-2001 - None Announced *2001-2002 - None Announced *2003-2004 - Rafael Fitzmaurice, Juarez Gallos *2004-2005 - Michael Tuckman, Bellevue Blackhawks *2005-2006 - Orest Hrywnak, Rochester Razorsharks *2006-2007 - Felix Krupczynski, Jacksonville JAM *2008-2009 - Jay Sills, Kentucky Bisons MVP - Championship Game *2000-2001 - Gee Gervin and Ndongo N'Diaye, Detroit Dogs *2001-2002 - Pete Mickeal, Kansas City Knights *2003-2004 - None Announced *2004-2005 - Kareem Reid, Arkansas RimRockers *2005-2006 - Chris Carrawell, Rochester Razorsharks *2006-2007 - None Announced *2008-2009 - Michael James, Kentucky Bisons MVP - All-Star Game *2000-2001 - No All-Star Game *2001-2002 - Maurice Carter, Kansas City Knights *2003-2004 - No All-Star Game *2004-2005 - Lou Kelly, West *2005-2006 - Armen Gilliam, East *2006-2007 - Billy Knight, West *2007-2008 - Anthony Anderson, East Community Service *2000-2001 - None Announced *2001-2002 - None Announced *2003-2004 - None Announced *2004-2005 - None Announced *2005-2006 - None Announced *2006-2007 - Modie Cox, Buffalo Silverbacks See also *List of developmental and minor sports leagues References Category:Basketball leagues